How loan deals helped Martin Odegaard achieve his rich potential

Herenveen

Odegaard joined SC Heerenveen in January 2017

First stop for Odegaard in his series of loan spells was an 18-month loan deal at SC Heerenveen in the Dutch top division.

It was thought that the technical nature of the division would suit the Norwegian's style of play and allow him to develop his game away from the glare of the Madrid spotlight. He made his debut just four days later but initially struggled and found himself confined to bench duty on some occasions.

He would, though, score his first goal in his 15th appearance for the club and he finished that season with two goals in 17 appearances.

Although he would miss 10 games the following season with a foot injury it was in 2017-18 that he really started to find his feet in senior level football. Despite those injury setbacks he would make 26 appearances, score two goals and collect a solitary assist. While these statistics weren't earth shattering he was making progress. He played 2,243 minutes of football, his pass completion was over 80% and crucially he was attempting more shots on goal, averaging over two a game compared to just 1.2 per game the previous season.

His form wouldn't be enough to get him back in the first team picture at Real Madrid but it was more than enough to suggest that he was making real progress and that he would be an asset to many teams.